Grief Chronicles
The First Month of Grief, The Second Month of Grief, and First Year of Grief were all completed in the first year after the death of my mother. The pieces in this series were all an attempt to mark the days of grieving. The human hair in First Month of Grief is hair from collected my shower drain as discarded remnants, gathered strands of hair that held her own DNA, which served as some microscopic connection to her mother.
The process of creating The First Year of Grief piece allowed for processing of the experience that preceded the piece: the death of my mother. The handling of each of the 365 components (silk organza rectangles) involved the protection of the raw material (waxing), partial destruction of the material (burning), and an attempt to mend the material (stitching).
Image Descriptions:
Image 1: Extreme detail of the First Month of Grief. Petri dish contains a tangle of brown human hair encased in dyed yellow resin. Several other petri dishes are partially in view.
Image 2: Detail view of the First Month of Grief. Two rows of petri dishes are visible installed on a wall, each contains a tangle of brown human hair encased in dyed yellow resin. One tangle encased in resin is displayed without a petri dish container, tacked to the wall. A couple of the resin-encased hair circles appear to be pulling back from their petri dishes containers.
Image 3: Full view of the Second Month of Grief. One row of 6" petri dishes are installed along a wall. Each petri dish contains strands of brown human hair encased in dyed resin of various yellows, oranges, blues and browns.
Image 4: Detail view of the Second Month of Grief. Thick strands of human hair are visible encased in greenish brown and orange resin. The strand of hair is seemingly caught in motion, not stretched taught or tangled.
Image 5: Full view of the First Year of Grief. 365 tea-dyed silk organza rectangles are suspended from the ceiling in 13 strands, connected via monofilament (fishing line).
Image 6: Detail view of the First Year of Grief. In the closeup, individual rectangle details are made visible - each rectangle is irregular and has a “scar” of sorts down the center with some visible burn-marks and stitching.
Image 7: Detail view of the First Year of Grief. The angle of the photograph captures the bottom of the installation, silk organza rectangles in view, as well as their cast shadows on the wall.
Video Description: Camera opens on a full gallery view with cement floors and white walls. Camera pans quickly towards the right to reveal Megan, standing, staring directly at her piece which is across from her roughly 20 feet away. Camera pans back to her piece, The First Year of Grief. The piece, comprised of 365 tea-dyed silk organza rectangles, is suspended from the gallery ceiling in strands, each strand appearing to start from a different height. The camera pans slightly towards the left, then fades to black and opens on a detail view of the piece. From this view, the silk organza rectangles slowly spin and move with the air flow in the gallery. Each rectangle is irregular and has a “scar” of sorts down the center with some visible burn-marks and stitching. Camera pans across the piece and fades to black. Video by Cliff Hollis.